Another day of staring at the Spire was leaving Seshat close to misery. She still hadn't fully accepted it yet, it still knocked around in her brain that someday she'd be able to move. She could go up and see the Spire herself. She'd be able to move and see things without just listening to others tell her stories about what she wanted to experience for herself. It was like...she was waiting for that day to come. The day when, suddenly, things would just magically fix itself. She'd be able to step out of her gemstone prison and walk around like all the other Gembounds of the caves.
But...it wouldn't happen. She knew it already but she just hadn't come fully to term with it. There was nothing else to do, after all, then dream. Day in and day out, just imagine what it would be like when she could finally walk up to that glowing light and go off to find all the others. All the other lights and wonders. Find that creature that Xevir had talked about or the cave of green that Attikias had mentioned. She'd see more then just the glowing light of the Spire.
But for now, she couldn't do anything. Nothing but move around pebbles on the ground with her mind. She'd realized that she could still do magic from here, even if she couldn't move, so she'd spent her time practicing, using her mind to nudge rocks around on the ground in front of her to the point where a number of them went clattering off into Polaris, bouncing way more far then all the rest. It wasn't exactly riveting but compared to staring off into space, it might as well have been the greatest game ever invented.
No--no, it was something else creating the series of quiet clacks. Perhaps she couldn't turn her head to see it, but--startled by the rattling pebble--a small, green worm-shaped bug with dozens of pairs of legs was scurrying hurriedly away from Seshat's flank.
Its tubular body, made up of hundreds of smooth segments, glinted with hues of peridot and emerald in the crystalline light.
After a moment, its feelers waving, it realized it was in no danger... and began to scurry back, to quietly feed on the huge amethyst that it had found.
Azizos inevitably found himself meandering towards Polaris after talking to the gemsbok calf — clearly on a trip to contemplate and consider things that most certainly put him out of his depth. His father (the pointer one) was far more experienced with this investigation thing, experiencing the world through tactile and magical sensation and thought. The kirin could do the former, but took a while to do the other, and frequently reduced himself to thinking aloud on the regular. Even now, he muttered as he paced the length of the core and set his pale eyes upon the impossibly bright Spire.
It was seemingly as vibrant as ever, glittering and almost iridescent in its cyan glow. He knew better than to approach the smaller crystals at its base; many a green Lesser had strayed too close and wound up being lashed by the sheer strength of magicka flooding their bodies.
The lion-stag arrived rather quickly (or had it been a long time and he just moved blindly through it?) at the subject of his thoughts and thinking…
Separated from the gem, Gembound died. It was either that the stone provided life, or that it merely transformed and transferred it.
So many questions, and so many momentarily put on hold as his attention fell upon what he'd initially thought to be a chrysalis. It was immense, purple and hosting many facets that were strikingly similar to a figurine that Attikias might've carved. Azizos trotted idly towards it, faltering only a little as he caught sight of a face hindered by the amethyst — and some strange manner of insect scurrying and placing its mouth atop the rock.
@Seshat
An almost itching sensation started lighting up on her back. This was strange because, usually, she couldn't feel shit from the gemstone skin that encompassed her entire body. After all, it didn't exactly have nerves and was much harder and thicker then what skin she'd normally have. So when, all of a sudden, feeling blossomed at a small point on her back, she freaked out. It wasn't exactly physical feeling, more like...if she were using her magic and it had a tangible form and someone was poking at it. Detached, nonphysical, but still there and wildly uncomfortable.
She writhed in her skin (although it wasn't like she was actually moving) trying to look back and see just what was going on, but it was useless. She couldn't even turn her head. Heart thudding in her throat, she cast her eyes around Polaris immediately, looking to see if there was anybody nearby.
She opened her mouth to immediately ask for his help, but he seemed to have noticed the same thing. She didn't get a look at what he'd done, however, before the itching feeling was gone. She couldn't turn her head to see whatever had been pushed off, forced just to stare straight ahead at the stranger.
The mite most certainly went on a world tour. Azizos cantered to a halt, tail waving limply as he steadied himself in a more casual pace. Pale eyes flickered up and down the strange statue's - gem? - as he circled her, emerging into view and spotting the golden face poking out. He stared for a moment, curious and seemingly speaking silently (but, really, just chewing his cud in thought.) One of his hooves scuffed against the ground with the realization that, oh, he was being spoken to and thanked.
Prey brain catching up and parsing, the kirin bowed his head,
Azizos lowered himself to his stomach, tucking his legs beneath himself and getting comfortable. His brows furrowed in thought, gaze averting briefly down the length of Polaris.
@Seshat